Fly With Me
by Destiny Bunny
Summary: [SLASH] Written for challenge number 71 at the RemusJames Fuh-Q-Fest complete


Fly With Me  
  
By Destiny Bunny. Sirius and Remus are slightly OOC in comparison with the Pensieve scene from book 5, but this is an AU so that scarcely matters ^_^ Challenge: Remus tries to get in shape/change his style/makeover his appearance to get James to notice him as 'more than friend' material. Response to Autumn 2003 challenge #071on the Remus/James Fuh-Q-Fest at  
  
~ ~ Sirius' POV ~ ~ Remus was sitting in the windowsill of the Gryffindor 5th year boys' dormitory, gazing out over the school grounds when Sirius walked in. "Hey Moony, what's up?" he asked, resting a light hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. Remus jumped at the touch, startled from his thoughts and gazed wildly at Sirius before recognition filled his eyes. "Oh, it's nothing, Siri," he replied heavily, "just thinking about that potions essay." Sirius regarded him sceptically for a moment before answering. "What potions essay Rem?" he finally asked. A wild look came into Remus' eyes, like that of a hunted animal. Sirius quickly felt guilty about upsetting his friend, and at the same time wondered what was wrong and whether he was the cause of it. He often was the cause of his light-haired friend's worry so this was hardly an ungrounded theory. Sirius was just about to ask what was wrong, when he was interrupted by Peter, who dashed into the room and promptly collapsed in a wheezing heap at Sirius' feet. When Peter had finally pulled himself together, he stood up and delivered the message he had been sent up with. "Sirius!" he gasped, still slightly breathless, "Melanie is waiting for you downstairs! She said you were going to study for your Astronomy test, but I didn't think you took Astronomy, Sirius." Ah yes, Melanie, Astronomy tower, date! All thoughts of Remus were pushed from the black-haired youth's mind as he fled in search of his latest conquest.  
  
~ ~ Remus' POV ~ ~ Remus returned his gaze to the Quidditch pitch, where James was practicing with the rest of the Gryffindor team. James certainly was a talented Quidditch player. Remus gasped as James performed a spectacular move where he evaded 3 defending players and a rogue bludger and scored a goal. Suddenly it hit him. There was no way James could ever like Remus unless he was into Quidditch. Remus had liked James in that way for just over a year now but had never felt able to tell anyone. And now that they were in the fifth year, it was becoming harder to keep his emotions in check about this. But if Remus could get onto the Quidditch team... Remus dashed down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, where there was a notice announcing the Quidditch tryouts for the following weekend. So Remus had a week to get up to standard. He had his own broomstick, and sneaking out at night to practice wouldn't be too difficult with his new prefect status. There was only one small problem with this plan. Remus was scared of heights. On remembering this small fact, he almost gave it up, but Remus was determined to get James to like him, even if it meant flying.  
  
That evening, Remus snuck down to the Quidditch pitch after his dorm-mates were asleep, his broomstick slung over his shoulder and wearing jeans and a thick sweater under his robes. The moon was only just past the half-way mark, but that was plenty of light for flying. Shaking slightly, Remus set the broom at just below waist height and swung his leg over. Pushing off gently, Remus soon found himself hovering about three feet off the ground. This wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Feeling more confident, he began flying around in wide circles, lazily spiralling upwards.  
  
~ ~ James' POV ~ ~ James tossed and turned in his bed, unable to get to sleep. He just had too much energy for that. And it was all because of the golden-haired, amber- eyed beauty sleeping across the room. At least James thought he was asleep, because the curtains were drawn. There was no sound coming from the other boy's bed, but then this was normal. James had found out long ago that Remus used silencing charms on his bed every night so that he didn't wake the others up, screaming in his sleep. James had tried on several occasions to convince him that this wasn't a good idea, and that they wouldn't be angry at getting woken up, but to no avail. Stealthily James crept past the beds of his sleeping dorm-mates and out of the room, picking up his broom on the way. A midnight fly would clear his mind. The way out to the Quidditch pitch was deserted at this time of night, leaving James free to continue his thoughts. All of these contained Remus in some way. This was rather disturbing for the young Gryffindor, who up until now, had always thought of himself as straight. However, he had now come to realise that the reason his relationships never lasted particularly long was because he wasn't really interested in girls. He suspected the same thing about Sirius, but hadn't asked in case he was wrong, or Sirius didn't know himself yet. There was something about the smaller boy that captivated James, in a way no girl ever could. Part of it was the fact that he was so much smaller and quieter than the others, but it was also his amazing strength. To go through all that he had and remain sane was no easy task and James truly admired the way that Remus coped with it. By now, James had left the castle and was heading over to the pitch. He almost thought that he could see a figure flying somewhere above the pitch, but that was impossible. It must just be the light playing tricks on his eyes. Fed up with walking, James jumped onto his broom and took off for the pitch.  
  
~ ~ Remus' POV ~ ~ Remus was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. For a start it was rather cold up there, and then there was the fact that he was steadily climbing in altitude and couldn't get the broom to go back down. He was also getting tired and rather more than a bit frightened. Not a good mixture at any time, but 45 feet up in the air on a broomstick that had serious problems with authority was definitely worse than most. Suddenly, the broom took a lurching dive towards the ground, throwing a terrified Remus off balance. He had no time to think or right himself as he went plummeting towards the ground, screaming out for James.  
  
~ ~ James' POV ~ ~ As James neared the Quidditch pitch, he realised that there was indeed someone already there. Curious as to whom this mysterious night-time flyer could be, James sped up, and reached the pitch just in time to hear a thoroughly unexpected voice calling his name. Tapping into reflexes honed from hours of daily Quidditch practice, James shot towards Remus' falling form. Having finally discovered his love for the smaller boy, he wasn't about to have Remus snatched away from him. In some crude parody of a Wronski Feint, James dove towards Remus, catching him a mere foot above the ground. Now that he was back on the ground, James' brain had gone into over-drive as he carried Remus, who had passed out as he fell, back to the castle. James knew of the other boy's fear of heights, and that there was no way Remus would willingly get onto a broom. He had also noticed that Remus had been acting more depressive and withdrawn than usual lately, and so was frightened as to what could have happened. James' first thought was to go to the hospital wing. After all, he didn't know what had caused Remus to fall in the first place. He was half way there when Remus woke up. "J- James?" the smaller boy queried. A wave of pity washed over James as he looked into the tired eyes of his friend. 'Hopefully more-than-friend' he thought. But no! He couldn't be thinking about that while Remus could be hurt. "Don't worry, Moony." The black-haired youth soothed. "We're nearly at the hospital wing now." The change in Remus' expression was immediate. Wide- eyed and shaking, he started to struggle in James' arms. "Not there, please!" he begged, "Ju- just, take me to the dorm." James raised his eyebrows at this, looking strangely like Sirius. "I'm not hurt or anything." Remus insisted at James' sceptical look. Finally, James relented, knowing how much Remus hated being in the hospital wing. Taking a right turn up a hidden passageway, the two boys soon found themselves back in the Gryffindor common room.  
  
~ ~ Remus' POV ~ ~ Remus felt himself being gently lowered onto a sofa in the common room and let out a small sigh of relief. He had been dreading the thought of explaining to Madame Pomfrey why he, a boy with a severe fear of heights, was out on a broom in the middle of the night. He soon found that he was not as safe as he thought though. "What on earth were you doing?!" James asked him, in a tone of voice that Remus knew to mean he wouldn't be dissuaded. That didn't mean Remus wasn't going to have a damn good try though. "Er, would you believe flying?" James' face clouded over at this, his eyes smouldering with irritation. "Yes, I gathered that." He replied, "But why were you flying -in the middle of the night- when you are terrified of heights?" Remus knew at this point that he was caught. He would either have to tell James the truth, a prospect he didn't exactly relish, or make up something credible, and quickly. Before he could answer however, James' voice broke into his thoughts. "We're all worried about you, you know. Me and Sirius especially. You've been acting weird lately. If something's wrong, you should tell us, 'cause we want to help you through it. And don't worry about us dumping you over it 'cause we won't. Even if you were married to a troll." Here, his serious face dissolved as he pictured the tiny Remus with his arm around a slimy troll. Even Remus had to smile at that picture. After a second he stopped though, and remembered why he was so upset in the first place. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes at this, alarming James even further.  
  
~ ~ Sirius' POV ~ ~ James drew the smaller boy into his arms and sat on the sofa with Remus in his lap. He started muttering softly into Remus' ear, all the while stroking his back and rocking him gently. "Come on Rem, it can't be that bad. I mean, I know bad, try being in love with one of your best male friends. I cannot believe I just said that, I meant to tell you in a much more romantic way than this, and that's if I ever told you. Well I've messed things up now haven't I, you'll probably never want to ta-" But at that point he was cut, because Remus had firmly attached himself to James' lips. When they broke apart, both boys were flushed and smiling and Remus had stopped crying. "Now, what were you doing out there?" James asked gently, still determined to get to the bottom of things. "Well," Remus began a little uncertainly, "I thought that if I made it onto the Quidditch team then I would stand more chance of getting you to like me." Remus blushed and looked down at his lap. "Remus, I could never NOT like you!" James replied, "Although, you did look rather fetching on that broom... until you fell off that is." The two boys giggled and got up to make their way back to the dorm. "Well, if I had known that this would cheer you up I would have humiliated myself for you months ago!" James remarked with a cheeky grin, causing Remus to laugh quietly. At the top of the stairs to the boys' rooms, Sirius smiled down at his two best friends. 'And if I knew this would cheer the two of you up I would have used that sleeplessness spell months ago.' He thought with a smile. 


End file.
